By Scott Gilfoid: #12 WBC Nathan Cleverly (29-2, 15 KOs) sees his upcoming fight next month on Premier Boxing Champions on Spike TV against #2 WBA, #3 WBC, #5 IBF, #5 WBO Andrzej Fonfara (27-3, 16 KOs) as a test to whether he’s a top level fighter at light heavyweight. Cleverly, 28, will be fighting the 27-year-old Fonfara in a scheduled 12 round fight on October 16th at the UIC Pavilion, in Chicago, Illinois.

Cleverly believes that he’s got too much talent for the likes of the 6’2” Fonfara and he plans on showing that when he gets inside the ring with him on 10/16.

Cleverly will be defending his WBC International light heavyweight title. I’m Cleverly would like to have the WBC light heavyweight title belt, which belongs to 38-year-old Adonis Stevenson at the moment. But if Cleverly defeats Fonfara next month, he’ll have a decent chance of getting a world title shot against Stevenson shortly after if that’s what Cleverly wants.

I don’t think it is. There’s talk of Clevelry going a different round in looking to fight WBA “regular” light heavyweight champion Juergen Braehmer if he can get past Fonfara. Braehmer is the equivalent of being the junior WBA champion at 175. The senior champion is WBA Super World light heavyweight champ Sergey Kovalev.

It's full steam ahead for @NathanClev, who is training to his limits for @Andrzej_Fonfara. #CleverlyFonfara #RT pic.twitter.com/2tdvsCycfg

— Team Clev Official (@TeamClev) September 26, 2015

Obviously that’s not a fight that Cleverly or his promoter Eddie Hearn are talking about wanting. It really comes down to one name – Braehmer. If Cleverly faces Stevenson or Kovalev, he would be basically be just getting a payday, because I don’t think he’s good enough to go six rounds with either of those two fighters.

Stevenson would probably give Cleverly a shot at his WBC title though if Hearn pushes for that. I don’t think Cleverly would even need to become the WBC mandatory for Stevenson to throw him a bone to give him a shot without having to go through the likes of Artur Beterbiev, Eleider Alvarez, Jean Pascal or Yunieski Gonzalez. I don’t think Cleverly would beat any of those fighters.

“I’m ready. I feel like I’ve got too much for Fonfara,” Cleverly said to IFL TV. “I’m not a cruiserweight. I’m a light heavyweight. So this is where we are. I believe Fonfara is the favorite. When you look at the betting, he’s the favorite. That’s kind of good because it takes a bit of the pressure off. It’s a strong possibility that I can go over and get the victory,” Cleverly said.

It’s nice that Cleverly has confidence in himself about the Fonfara fight, but I don’t think it means much. Cleverly looked like a shot fighter in his 12 round decision loss to Tony Bellew last November. Cleverly doesn’t seem to have a lot of faith in his chin from what I can tell. It wasn’t the same Cleverly that beat Bellew four years ago in 2011. That version of Cleverly wasn’t afraid to mix it up with Bellew. But the one that fought last November in 2014, looked like he was afraid to get hit.

It could be that Cleverly is still haunted by his 4th round knockout loss to Kovalev in August of 2013. Cleverly was batted around the ring by Kovalev like a baseball, and it was just sickeningly one-sided from start until the bitter finish in the 4th.

The fight should have been stopped in the 3rd round, though, because referee Terry O’Connor had to half carry Cleverly back to his corner after the round had ended following the second knockdown of Cleverly. I’ve never seen a referee carry a fighter back to his corner after he was knocked down. Usually the referee will look at the fighter, see that he’s in no condition to continue, and then waive it off. But that didn’t happen in this case.

“I took a few days to decide but I chose the Fonfara one,” Cleverly said to skysports.com. “I feel it’s on the big stage and win this then I am in the big leagues. At times I am going to trade with him, so it is going to be an exciting fight.”

I hate to say it but I think this fight is going to end badly for Cleverly with him getting knocked out by the 8th, and finding out that he’s not in the “big leagues” as he says.